Dan Kennison's a bit of a legend on our reader forum. Most well known to our forum members for the Premier Bike, Kennison is now looking to lead change in how triathletes ride via apparel and accessories through the Position One brand. Kennison joined us to talk through some of this and more.

Dan, thanks for your time. How are you?
I’m doing great thank you for asking. And thank you for talking with me – I know you and Eric have a lot of projects going on at Slowtwitch.

For those that don't know you: can you talk a little bit about your manufacturing experience?
I started my own business manufacturing medical products back in 1992. We started doing buy-sell at first acting as a distributor for other brand products selling to local hospitals. We quickly transitioned to our own label and then moved on to manufacturing some of those items. That was all under Premier Medical and Premier Asia Group. We specialized in commodity products like shoe covers, bouffant caps, masks, isolation gowns, latex and vinyl gloves as well as textile items; all for the healthcare market. For those years I spent a lot of time in Asia.

In 1996, we started manufacturing powder free latex gloves at our 50,000 sq./ft. facility in Joliet, Illinois where we were able to create about 60 new manufacturing jobs. I was so ambitious and so young “I didn’t know - what I didn’t know” it was a great time and we worked 15 hours a day. I sold the company in 2001 when we hit 30 million in sales.

You wound back up in the medical field during COVID.
I had a brief re-opening of a mask line during the first 6 months of COVID to help with the shortages. We made about 2 million masks.

So how did you wind up manufacturing triathlon stuff?
After I sold the business life changed - a friend introduced me to triathlon so I was focused on health and fitness. I purchased a Cervelo PC3 and rode the wheels off of it. When it was time to get a new bike – a lot of manufacturers had switched to making taller stack and shorter reach bikes. It seemed like there might be a gap in what manufacturers were making and what athletes were asking for.

During 2015/2016 I meticulously and systematically studied the industries top offerings - then read and listened to what others had written and discussed about triathlon bikes and the triathlon industry here on Slowtwitch. We studied what athletes liked and what had been lacking. It's amazing how many great ideas are bantered back and forth on the forum! There's a lot of very smart people here.

Based on that research, I decided to make a bike that maintained a long/low geometry and add a lot of features athletes were asking for – in November 2017 PremierBike was born. That bike was, 100% a product of Slowtwitch. Dan’s articles and this community forum input built the Tactical.

Over the years we added many products - updated wheels, travel cases, lubes and sealants. About two years ago we started selling the wax and oil based lubes and tire sealants in bulk to a third-party to sell under their label.

Where does PremierBike stand today?
The CAD work to make a disc brake version of the Tactical has been done since about the time everything shut down. Otherwise, we've been sitting on the sidelines. I am starting to think about that a bit more, but I really need to get to Asia and have some face-to-face conversations before I commit to anything. I have a trip planned in October.

The market still has some settling to do. The other point that guides that decision is, do I have anything better to offer that is not available today? Being “just another bike company” is not very interesting to me. We did something really special in 2017 so that kind of impact is a requirement to move forward.

That brings us to Position One. I feel like a similar story brought you to the apparel and accessory business.
You're right! Over time enough of those conversations, and again the members of this forum talking about their issues, made the decision for me. I know and understand textiles from my prior life but that was really secondary. There's two stories that I think really highlight the why behind Position One.

Years ago, a coach called me about a female athlete that I had helped fit on her tri-bike. He called during a Computrainer session and he said her numbers were way down in the weeks leading up to her debut at the World Championships at Kona. I asked him to send a video. I had been thinking her seat tube slipped or she had changed position. I watched the video and everything looked normal with one exception: the look on her face. I called and asked to talk with her. “Hey, how are you? It looks like you have some saddle sores on the left side based on your pedal stroke.” Her reply, sheepishly: “Yeah...it's bad." We wound up having another conversation that night about how to try and clear things up. For her, it was an awkward conversation as she had never discussed it before – not even with her female athlete friends. She thought it was just part of the program.

Fast forward a few years and I was out with my riding group, all on tri bikes training for Ironman Cozumel. It was common for us to do 75 – 90 mile rides 2-3 times a week. One of the athletes says in the middle of one of these rides: “Dan, you’re always inventing s***. Can’t you make something to fix these f***ing saddle sores?”

That's when I decided to work on the issue. There's too many athletes with too many uncomfortable rides.

After a lot of work, trials and materials I came up with a fantastic product that will prevent and fix saddle sore issues. Our patented pad has the correct shape, is made with the best materials and is positioned correctly for athletes that ride in the aero position. Then we decided to baseline the rest of each garment with the best in the business.

You don’t have to hate your saddle – when you can fix your pad.

You've also mentioned that you have some new stuff on the horizon.
Well, first, we are filling back in on our core product inventory. We sold out many sizes during our initial launch and we're now getting back in stock. We also have running tops and shorts for both men and women, socks, and caps. All of it flows together -- comfortable clothing that makes your ride or run more enjoyable.

And we have coffee...

COFFEE?!? Now we're talking.
Yes! Coffee for the kids. When athletes purchase a pound of coffee from the website 100% of the money goes to help kids. Great coffee and helping others – tastes good and feels good.

Anything else we should know?
All of our in-stock inventory is 25% off through Memorial Day. Use the code PositionOne at checkout.

Thanks again, Dan.
Thanks Ryan!